31 augustus 2014

Back from two weeks that were well spent in Wales, the Yorkshire Dales, and the city of York (U.K.) We enjoyed ourselves very much with sightseeing, hiking, visiting historical sites etc. There is a big task sorting out hundreds of photos now :)
This picture was taken in front of the York Minster. More to follow!

16 augustus 2014

The Sibelius Monument, here seen from underneath, consists of 600 hollow steel pipes that are welded together in a wave-like pattern. The purpose of the maker, Eila Hiltunen, was to capture the essence of the music of this Finnish composer (1865-1957).

13 augustus 2014

Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen has it's focus on art and archeology. I showed an example of art in yesterday's post, today 2 photos of historical objects. This large clay pot, found near Nijmegen has 3 (similar) faces. Pots like these were used during ritual ceremonies.

This is a reconstructed iron 'facial helmet' from the 1st century. The mask was once covered with a thin layer of silver. The three holes in the cheek represent a tattoo. Very remarkable is the clothing with a plaiting made of horsehair. The facial helmet that you see in the background contains some original parts; it was found in 1991, also near Nijmegen, on the spot where a Roman army base was located between 40 and 70 AD.

12 augustus 2014

This remarkable chair is a piece of art named ´Mother´s Invention´, and is one of the 'Horti sculptures' by Ferdi Tajiri-Jansen (1927-1969). It belongs to the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, but can now be seen as part of the exhibition ´Pop Art´ in Museum De Valkhof in Nijmegen.

Ferdi started to create Horti sculptures in 1966. On a trip through Mexico she became fascinated by the boundless vitality and the amazing wealth of colour of the nature there. The Horti sculptures radiate the spirit of the sixties: psychedelic, playful, colourful, flower power. This sculpture depicts the domain of motherhood: a place of refuge, a place of rest, and a throne for the Alma Mater. (Latin alma "nourishing/kind, mater "mother")

8 augustus 2014

When you take a seat in either one of these red chairs inside the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, a mechanism in the "lamps" is activated; on the left a voice starts reading poetry ('fersen' in Friesian language), and on the right you can hear a song ('music' is 'musyk' in Friesian).

6 augustus 2014

"The Three Herrings" (in Dutch: De Drie Haringen) is the name of a house in Deventer. A man called Herbert Dapper, who had become very rich in the herring trade, bought it in 1567. He was a member of an association of merchants that used a sign with 3 crowned herrings, and Mr Dapper placed a similar sign on his home as well.
Nowadays the building is owned by the Historical Museum Deventer.